All Too Easy
by ValandMarcelle
Summary: Henley Reeves is worried. And it's not something she's used to. (Henley/Jack friendship with hints of Danley) Written by Marcelle
1. After the Flames

"We've come too far to stop now."

"This is bigger than all of us."

"Remember the name Jack Wilder tonight when we perform at 5 Pointz in Queens tonight at 7."

"Thank you all for supporting Jack when he was with us.

""The Four Horseman will ride on." Henley shuts off the camera, trying to ignore the impressed smirk that Danny is shooting her way. She's never been one to fish for compliments, and she doesn't need that arrogant jerk's approval. Especially now.

"Nice ending there, Reeves. Clever wordplay—I like it," Merritt drawls, grinning in the most irritating way that only he can manage. Between the magician and the mentalist, Henley isn't sure how she is able to keep her head straight right now. That's why she needs Jack, to keep her sane. The boy is cute, in an odd sort of way.

He isn't nearly as intolerable as Danny and Merritt. He's sweet when he wants to be, the youngest one of them, despite how much he insists on being treated like an adult and the fact that he's been a repeat pickpocket. Henley was somewhat hesitant about leaving him to burn the evidence before the FBI showed up, but Jack was confident that he could handle it, and the others didn't seem to care about him like Henley did. Besides, it was Danny's plan, and heaven forbid anyone dare challenge a plan formulated by the great and powerful J. Daniel Atlas.

"Yeah, well, it's not like either of you had any showmanship to add," Henley retorts, tucking the small camera away inside a waterproof case, a surreal feeling washing over her. They have just filmed a faux memorial tribute to Jack, whom the rest of the world believes to have died as a result of a cinematic car chase with the FBI. Of course, the Horsemen know better.

They carried out the entire ruse themselves, right down to the truck and fake getaway cars. Henley herself had even laughed out loud at the stupidity of the agents, who thought they had witnessed the death of one fourth of the seemingly criminal magicians they had been chasing for the last few days. Jack is not dead, he is far from it, and Henley knows she should take comfort in this. But somehow…she can't.

Because now, as she stares out the window of the room where the Horsemen have taken refuge before their last act, it feels so real. It hadn't at the time, of course, because at least then she could still see Jack. She knew for a fact that he was fine. But they haven't seen him for a few hours, and it is all too easy for Henley's mind to convince her that the kid really did go out in flames.

"Excuse me! I'll have you know that my showmanship trumps all of you guys combined," Danny concietedly defends himself, the smirk still plastered on his face. "Might I remind you who starts the show each night? Who consistently sawed you in half then put you back together every show for about a year?" He directs his last comment at Henley, raising a knowing eyebrow, and she merely scowls in reply.

"Please, Atlas. Try convincing an entire university class that they're all aboard the Millennium Falcon as Chewbacca to impress some huge Star Wars nerd. No really, try it sometime. Then come and talk to me about showmanship." Merritt, of course, adds his own two cents. Never can the man let an opportunity pass him by to brag. Henley supposes that's one thing he and Danny have in common, and which most likely contributes to the reason the two haven't killed each other yet. That and the fact that they need each other, if they want to make joining the Eye a reality. But they also need Jack.

"How can you two be so calm right now?" Henley blurts out, not completely knowing what compels her to do so. Is it pre-show nerves? No, she has outgrown those a long time ago. So then what is it? Worry? Yes, she supposes that it is. She is genuinely concerned for Jack Wilder.

It is a relatively new feeling for Henley, as she has never really needed to worry about anyone beyond herself. Everyone else she knows are perfectly capable own their own, Jack included. But still, he is young, there is a lot he doesn't know…

She knows it was the plan and she knows Danny would kill her if she even suggests they stray from it, but she has a sudden desire to go look for the boy. He's undoubtedly keeping way below the radar right now, but Henley still wants to find him, if only just to assure herself that he's alright, to get her mind to stop playing games with her as Merritt did to his victims.

"Is Miss-Made-Of-Steel-Reeves nervous before our big finale tonight?" the mentalist sneers with a toothy, unrelenting grin.

"Very funny, McKinney," Henley merely sighs in response. Normally, she would retort with some sort of harsh comeback, but she honestly does not feel the need to start a petty argument with Merritt at the moment. And Danny—dang him—of course notices this. He's known her for a long time, seen her at her best and at her worst, and the look on his face tells her that he knows something's up with her.

"Then what is it, sweetheart?" Merritt pushes further, twirling his ever-present fedora around his finger and feigning a look of concern. Henley simply ignores him this time, turning on her heel to look out the window again. The streets of New York teem with life below her: cars and taxis and thousands of people—and Jack somewhere among them.

"Do you think something happened to him?" she whispers, and Daniel, being the only one close enough to hear or care, takes a place beside her at the window, following her line of sight.

"I doubt it, Henley," he tries to reassure her, and Henley almost laughs at this terrible initial attempt at consolation. "Jack may be young, but the kid is good. You've seen him with cards—how he slices pencils in half, and how he can pick any lock known to man. He'll be fine. Trust me." He smiles at her, a real smile this time. "And besides, he's learned from the best. Maybe that idolism of me he used to have paid off for something. Now he knows the first rule of magic. Always be—"

"The smartest guy in the room. Yes, of course," Henley allows herself to laugh at this, because Danny has said it so many times it's practically implanted in their brains. Soon, though, the moment is lost, and her mood is somber once again. "What if he gets caught, Danny?"

"Well then we're all going down," Merritt suddenly decides to contribute to the conversation, being a ray of sunshine as always. "If that kid's caught, we're done for. He'll break under pressure, I can guarantee you that. He didn't even want to stay behind in the first place. How do you know he doesn't have some secret grudge against us for leaving him, huh? Maybe he'll give us up for his own personal gain. Never know, do ya?" The mentalist laughs at the possibility of discovery, and Henley resists a very tempting urge to slap him across the face.

"Knock it off, Merritt. Jack wouldn't do that," she says instead, the words unsatisfying at the moment.

"He slept during the FBI interrogation, remember? Completely at ease. So what makes you think he'd crack if he got busted now?" Danny quickly argues, crossing his arms and looking expectantly at Merritt, who merely looks somewhat intrigued by the whole situation.

"They had nothing to prove during the interrogation, at least not without admitting to a belief in magic. You know that, Daniel, you pointed that out yourself. This time is different, my dears. Those agents behind him saw him steal that car, and I'm sure Jack didn't get out of the apartment without a fight. They've got real evidence against him this time, and they can use it if he does get caught," Merritt reasons in such a casual tone that Henley can't even look at him as he speaks. "However, I will admit that Jack does have the advantage here. The world out there all thinks he's dead, so the attention is turned away from him and back on us. We're who they're focused on now, not him. So if the kid does get caught, it'll because of his own dang stupidity."

It was almost enough to kill her, but Henley realizes that the mentalist did have a valid point. Jack isn't stupid, he wouldn't do anything to call attention to himself when he had presumably died a few hours ago. And as much as Henley hates to admit it, this does set her a bit more at ease. Why does it take Merritt McKinney, of all the people on Earth, to reassure her that Jack would be fine?

Needing some sort of movement to clear her head, Henley saunters across the room to her bag, searching it's contents for a fresh pair of her signature gloves. She hates feeling so vulnerable, letting an actual naked emotion show through a crack in the confident, indestructible facade she wore wherever she went that was so vital to her success as an escape artist. Emotions are weakness in the dog-eat-dog world of magic, Danny had taught her that long ago. Danny...

She had thought he was the only one who could see past the mask, the only one who she loved enough to worry for. Does she love Jack? Henley supposes she does, but not in the same way that she has accepted that she loves Danny. She loves Jack in a sisterly way, although she can't recall a time that she has ever really acted in a way that would let him see that, aside from just before they left him behind.


	2. Before the Chase

**Note: This is a flashback to the scene where the Horseman (minus Jack) are in the apartment after Dylan discovers the chip in his phone and traces the Horseman to New York. R and R!**

_"Alright, we need to get out of here. Henley, you and Merritt are coming with me to set up the mirrors so we can get the safe. Jack, you need to stay here and burn any evidence from the Eye. Got it?" Danny barked orders in a tone which suggested that he was not to be questioned. _

_"You got it, Chief," Merritt droned, sounding completely unenthusiastic despite the fact that the FBI could have been busting down the door at any given moment. _

_"Woah, hold up Danny. Why am I the one who has to stay?" Jack protested, sounding almost indignant. "It's because I'm the youngest, right? The most expendable?" _

_"Look Jack, one of us has to do it, and you're the best man for the job. Besides, you've always got your cards as a weapon, right? So why should you be nervous?" Danny shot back, sounding exasperated as he bustled around the apartment, grabbing various items and shoving them into a messenger bag, Henley and Merritt following his lead. _

_"It's not that I'm nervous, Danny, it's just that I don't want to get caught. If the FBI shows up and I'm still here, I could be done for, man!" Jack pressed. _

_"Then figure something out!" Danny retorted quickly. Jack paused, seemingly taken aback, and the harsh look on Daniel's features softened a bit. "I'm sorry, Jack, I know it's a lot to ask. But we've got to set up the mirrors as soon as possible, so I really can't afford to argue with you right now. Just trust me, you can do this. You know what to do." _

_"Fine. Fine. I'll do it, you're right. You win," Jack sighed as he made his way over to the fireplace and shuffled through the papers that had accumulated there, seeming to be mulling over which to first consign to the flames. Henley watched him, noticing for the first time how young he really looked._

_He hardly seemed out of high school, and yet he had told the Horseman that he had been pickpocketing off the street for a few years. Just what kind of life had Jack Wilder led? _

_Henley really had no idea, but she could sense that the luck of the draw had never really been on his side. Suddenly, it didn't seem fair to her to let this boy, the least fortunate of them all, risk his life for theirs. _

_"Guys, maybe I should stay here. I am the escape artist, after all. I've got more experience than he does with this kind of thing," Henley offered, but the look Jack gave her, somehow soft and stern at the same time, was almost enough to stop her in her tracks. _

_"No, Henley, no. I can do this. Danny was right, it has to be me. You said you have more experience anyway, so you need to put it to good use. Besides, I'm tired of you guys thinking I'm just some kid off the street who can do a few card tricks. I need to...prove myself, I guess," He smiled slightly, the corners of his mouth upturned, and Henley almost lost the will to argue with him. _

_"Right, so come on, Henley. We need to get ready to go, hurry up!" Danny's commanding tone brought her focus back, and the next few minutes were swept up in the flurry of motion in the apartment as the Horseman prepared to leave. _

_Henley quickly checked the computer, almost if as a means to distract herself, and was shocked to find that the FBI seemed to be catching up with them. Danny wasn't much of a help in this matter, reminding them all that they had not even the slightest idea whose orders they were taking in the first place. She saw Jack listening to their frantic comments with a slightly nervous look on his face before adding his own two cents. _

_"Hey guys, I don't know if I can do this, alright? I don't want to go to jail, you know?" He sounded nervous, almost scared, and Henley's heart tugged at the sound of the fear in the boy's voice, well-hidden but definitely there. He had been so confident, so willing a moment ago...what had changed his mind? _

_Perhaps the prospect of being caught? She hadn't been entirely reassuring a moment ago, and the tension in the room had definitely increased when she had announced that the firewall was down. Their comments may have gotten to his head, taking his earlier commitment and warping it into anxiety. Whatever it was, Henely couldn't help but feel some level of pity for him. _

_"Then don't mess this up. You're always talking about how you want to be treated like an adult, so now might be a good time to start acting like one. Prove yourself, or whatever the heck you wanted to do. We have a plan, stick to it. Stay here and burn it all," Danny, on the other hand, was as void of compassion as ever, only stopping in what he was doing to clap Jack on the shoulder for a brief moment before resuming in his work. _

_Henley held back her first impulse to volunteer herself again, but knew better this time. Danny would never go for that now, not when the FBI was on their tail and the plan was so close to being set in motion. She wouldn't be able to argue with Danny to the point where he would change his mind, she knew from experience that it was virtually impossible to come out victorious in an Atlas Argument. And even if she had wanted to argue, Merritt's next words denied her any chance to do so. _

_"I'm just here for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That's it. Then I'm gone," he announced, the snide and indifferent facade still in place even at these crucial moments. It ignited an anger inside Henely that she couldn't explain, and she reared on him almost instantly. _

_"You can do whatever you want after this is over, Merritt. But for now you stick to the plan," Her words were spoken with a conviction, and Henley was half-aware that she was trying to make herself believe what she had said, so that the order was less for Merritt and more for her own benefit. _

_She realized she sounded just like Danny, but it was worth if it could calm them down. She glanced over towards Daniel, who was standing by the window, a look of utter seriousness on his face. _

_"Uh, guys? They're here." _

_Almost simultaneously, all four Horsemen stared out the window and down onto the street, where several FBI vehicles had screeched to a halt in front of the apartment building._

_Agents armed with guns were storming into the ground entrance, and Henley knew they had come down to the wire. If they stayed in the apartment any longer, they would be caught. And if they were caught, any prospects of admittance to the Eye would vanish like a rabbit from a box. _

_"Come on!" Danny jolted her out of her thoughts, throwing her a bag stuffed with equipment. Henley managed to catch a glimpse of Jack over her shoulder and she was swept out the door with Danny and Merritt-the boy had already sprung into action, tossing sheets of paper into the crackling fire as if his life depended on it. Which, of course, it did. _

_A sharp pang of guilt and worry shot through her, but Henely knew she had no time to dwell on it, even as she thought she saw Danny glance back at the kid as well. Jack would be fine. He would be fine. _

_She keep repeating the phrase over and over as she and the holders of the Lover and Hermit cards rushed down the winding staircase, through the chute, and out of the building. Otherwise, it would be all too easy to imagine that Jack Wilder would not be fine. And this was not an option._


End file.
